Nottinghamshire director of cricket Mick Newell has been told he must reapply for his job as an England selector as part of a major shake-up.

The England and Wales Cricket Board today announced a new selection process which will see the current head of the selection panel, James Whitaker, step down at the end of the month as part of the changes.

At present, Newell, who is currently in Barbados with the England Lions, sits on the panel alongside Whitaker and Angus Fraser.

The new process will see a scouting system introduced to cover all three formats. The scouts will then report to a new three-strong selection panel, made up of a new national selector, a full-time independent England selector and the England head coach.

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The role of national selector will be advertised this week with the intention of having them in place by the time the next selections are made in mid-May, for the Test series against Pakistan.

Fraser and Newell will remain in place until new positions have been filled and are free to apply for the new roles. It is not clear if Newell will reapply and if he is offered a new job, he would have to leave Notts.

Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, said: “The new approach will allow us to see more players throughout the county game, more often, and simplify the selection process.

James Whitaker is to step down (Image: Getty)

"We will have a greater body of information, deeper insight into the talent we can pick and a better understanding of who to help develop across the red-ball and white-ball games.

“The game now requires our teams to play more often, at a higher intensity, in a range of conditions and across different formats. A formalised scouting network will help us to be more aware of players’ strengths and, as they will be seen more often by more people, they will have a greater opportunity to impress.

“Our new national selector will coordinate with a full-time England selector, who will be appointed by the national selector, and the England head coach to ensure that we are scouting players throughout the pathway for England’s current and future needs.

"Clearly, we are looking for a person who is an excellent judge of talent and character and has experience in both talent identification and the international game.

“We have been considering this for some time and now is the right moment to make the change. The last year has been exceptionally busy for all the men’s teams and this decision is not related to results.”